First Christmas
by mano96
Summary: Ichigo and Orihime spend their first Christmas together. Well, they try to. XD
1. Chapter 1

Author's Notes: Written for the 2006 Holiday Contest at Ichigo x Orihime FC at Bleach Forums

Disclaimer: Bleach is owned by Kubo Tite

First Christmas

Ichigo couldn't help but smile. He was staring at the door number of Orihime's apartment which still bore the names of both Toushirou and Matsumoto. He almost forgot that they were her roommates a few months ago. Slowly, his smile faded. He shouldn't be dwelling on the past. He shook his head hoping the action would help clear his mind. He had to remind himself that he was there to pick up Orihime and take her to his home to celebrate Christmas with his family. It will be their first Christmas together, he wanted to make it as perfect as possible.

Ichigo was about to knock when the door swung wide open. There before him was Orihime, wearing a simple tight-fitting red knit shrug over a pink form-fitting dress. She had a welcoming smile on her face. The sweet greeting Ichigo had planned to tell her flew out of his head.

"Orihime, you look lovel…isn't that dress a little tight? I mean, it's lovely…just that Kon…" Ichigo stopped talking when he noticed Orihime's bemused face.

"Let me try this again, you look beautiful." Ichigo finally said.

"Thank you, Ichigo-kun." Orihime said shyly with a blush on her face. "Please come in, I'll be ready to go in few minutes. I just have to wrap up these baked potatoes with sweet jelly I made for your dad."

Ichigo smiled. His dad and Orihime had very similar taste in food.

"Take your time. We've got a few minutes to spare. Karin and Yuzu are just finishing up preparing the food. They want to make sure we have enough." Ichigo said as he walked into her living room.

"I'm sure there will be enough for all of us. It will be just five of us after all, right?" Orihime said from the kitchen.

"Yeah, I wanted to spend a quiet Christmas. Now really isn't the time to have a big party when everyone is preparing for…"

Ichigo did it again. He didn't mean for his mind to dwell on the upcoming winter war against Aizen and the Arrancar. Then he realized it. He was standing on the same place the night he found out Orihime was taken to Hueco Mundo. He remembered his knees hitting the floor as the General Commander refused his request to rescue Orihime on his own. He remembered hearing Rukia say sorry as she was gently led away by Renji back to Soul Society.

He was so lost in thought that he barely heard the soft footsteps drawing near, barely felt the graceful arms embrace him from behind, and barely noticed a soft cheek pressing gently against his back.

"I'm here." Orihime said quietly.

Ichigo exhaled. And felt everything. Felt her arms around him, her soft breath tickling his back, her reiatsu mingling with his. But most of all, he felt relief. She is here, with him. It is enough.

Ichigo looked askance at Orihime as they were walking back to his house from her apartment. He marveled at how she was so in tune with him. He didn't have to say a word about what his mind was dwelling on earlier, yet she knew instinctively that his spirit was bothered. It was her comforting presence that brought him back, just like it did when his hollow took control at Hueco Mundo. She called him back. He could still her voice calling his name.

"Ichigo."

Just like that, her voice soft and gentle.

"Ichigo, we're here"

"Huh? what?" Ichigo asked, staring at Orihime with a confused look on his face.

Orihime just smiled knowingly. Ichigo looked around and realized that they were right in front of his house. He sighed. There goes his quiet time with Orihime. At least it's just going to be his dad and his two sisters to deal with. Then he can have some quality time with Orihime after the festivities were over. It is their first Christmas together. He wants to make it as perfect as possible.

"You did say it was just your family, right?" Orihime asked.

"Of-course, don't worry, they're excited that you'll be spending Christmas with us." Ichigo said as he made the move to open the door.

"Uh, that's not what I'm worried about." Orihime said with an amused look on her face.

Before Ichigo could figure out what Orihime found amusing, the door swung open and the hair on the back of his neck stood on end. He really should have been paying more attention to the reiatsus swirling about his house.

"Ichigo! Orihime-chan, you're both finally here!"

There in front of them was Matsumoto, wearing a form-fitting and rather short red velvet dress with white fur trimmings on the cuffs of her sleeves and around the deep V-neck line. The fur only served to accentuate her rather generous assets. Before Ichigo could say a word, he was knocked out of the way as Matsumoto gave Orihime a hug before dragging her inside his house. Ichigo stood there speechless as Orihime looked back at him and smiled apologetically before she disappeared in the crowd of people inside.

"You know you really should get inside, the party is indoors after all."

"Toushirou? What are you doing here?" Ichigo said with a surprised look on his face as he stared at the young white haired shinigami that appeared beside him.

"I was invited, not by you obviously. And it's Captain Hitsugaya to you." The tenth division captain said with an annoyed look on his face.

"Then who invited…"

Before Ichigo could finish his sentence, he found himself tackled to the ground by his father. He really should keep his wits about him, Ichigo thought to himself. First, he didn't sense the visiting shinigamis' reiatsus and now this.

"Where are the baked potatoes with sweet jelly? Orihime-chan said you were carrying them." Isshin excitedly said.

Ichigo, laying on the ground with his dad sitting on him, turned his head to look at his right hand. Sure enough, the bag with his dad's favorite dish was still there. Isshin followed his son's stare, smiled, and then took the bag of food out of his son's hand.

"Thanks! If you're wondering, I invited them. Better come inside. Karin and Yuzu outdid themselves with the food and decoration." Isshin said, as he headed back inside their house with his bounty. He turned to look at his son and added, "Kon is charge of the mistletoe and last I checked he was eyeing Orihime-chan…"

Ichigo said nothing as he stared at his father's retreating back. Then realization hit him. He had to protect Orihime. He stood up and looked at Hitsugaya who was wearing a smirk on his face.

"It's going to be a long night." Ichigo muttered before followed his father inside.


	2. Chapter 2

As soon as Ichigo entered his house, he found himself blinded by the light emanating from all the Christmas icicle lights that were hanging from the ceiling. He tried looking elsewhere but soon realized that even the walls were covered in twinkling lights. Karin and Yuzu really outdid themselves with the Christmas decorations. Aside from the elaborate lights, every passageway was bordered with lighted garlands covered with candy canes, bows, and paper snowflakes adorned with glitter. The banister to the second floor was also wrapped in one long lighted garland that was decorated with stringed popcorn and little snowmen made from marshmallows. Ichigo was about to check what décor the twins festooned the living room with when he heard someone speak right next to him.

"You get used to the lights after a while."

Ichigo turned to see who spoke only to come face to face with a rather red faced Ikakku who was dressed as an elf. He did not look happy.

"Ikkaku, you look…uh…rather festive." Ichigo blurted.

"Lost a bet with Matsumoto, that's all you need to know." Ikakku said as he glared at Ichigo who was trying hard not laugh.

Ichigo quickly changed the subject to one that was foremost in his mind, "Hey, did you happen to see Orihime? I just want to make sure she's alright."

Before Ikakku could reply, another voice cut in to their conversation.

"She's in the living room talking with Tatsuki, Ishida, and Chad." Yumichika said before asking, "So how do you like my masterpiece?"

"Wait, I thought my sisters did the decorating." Ichigo asked.

"They did, I just told them what to do. This is my vision of a winter wonderland. Isn't it beautiful?" Yumichika said proudly

"Uh, yes, it's quite…bright." Ichigo said.

He had a feeling that Yumichika might elaborate on his vision so Ichigo quickly excused himself and made his way to the living room. As he entered, he noticed that Yumichika's vision of a winter wonderland included having a huge lighted Christmas tree placed in the center of the room. The tree was brimming with an assortment of ornaments. There were gold and silver sequined balls, Santa Clause figurines, red bows, candy canes, marshmallow snowmen and stringed popcorn. It was topped off with a huge angel…that looked eerily like Yumichika.

Ichigo noticed Yachiru, the pink haired vice captain of the 11th division, admiring the tree. Then he saw her pop something into her mouth. Ichigo then realized that the bottom of the tree was looking rather bare. He wasn't going to say anything. Telling on Yachiru meant facing the wrath of Zaraki Kenpachi. This is his first Christmas with Orihime. He wants to live to enjoy it.

He decided to ignore Yachiru and started scanning the crowd looking for Orihime. He saw her peeking over the shoulders of Tatsuki and Ishida. As soon as their eyes met, she smiled and signaled for him to join her. Ichigo was about to walk towards her when something else caught his eye. He looked near the top of the tree again and noticed one of the Santa Clause figurines move. It was Kon in disguise. He was holding the mistletoe and was getting ready to pounce on Orihime. Ichigo ran towards her, knocking Tatsuki, Ishida and Chad out of the way in his haste.

"Ichigo-kun, what's wrong?" Orihime said worriedly as Ichigo stopped right in front of her.

Kon had already launched himself from his perch, but he was so absorbed in his dream of kissing Orihime that he didn't notice that the target of his amorous affection was now being shielded by a deeply scowling Ichigo.

"Kiss me Inoue-san!" Kon shouted before getting his face punched hard by Ichigo. The force of the punch was enough to launch Kon up to the ceiling where he promptly got tangled in the icicle lights.

"Nice punch." Chad said.

"Thanks, Chad. Not as powerful as yours, but still effective." Ichigo said smugly as he stared at the struggling Kon who was trying to extricate himself from the icicle lights.

"You do know we could have protected her from Kon's attack." Ishida said, slightly annoyed as he adjusted his glasses.

Ichigo apologized. He didn't feel like explaining his actions so he just asked, "What are you doing here anyway? Thought you were training with your father?"

"I am training. My father said I needed to practice dealing with troublesome shinigamis. You're my test dummy." Ishida coolly replied.

"Hey!"

Tatsuki decided to interrupt the exchange before it got heated by pulling Ishida away. Chad soon followed after them. Ichigo reminded himself to thank Tatsuki later. He turned to look at Orihime and smiled. He and was about to ask her if she wanted to go somewhere less crowded when he heard Tatsuki speak from somewhere behind him.

"Ichigo, did you know that you and Orihime are standing under the mistletoe?"

A hush came over the room.

What Mistletoe? Ichigo thought. He didn't recall seeing any mistletoe except for the one that Kon was holding in his hand. He looked up and sure enough there was mistletoe, still held in Kon's hand. It was the only part left of Kon that was visible through a tangled ball of icicle lights.

Ichigo switched his attention back to Orihime whose face was turning a beautiful shade of red. Ichigo knew his face was probably the same shade and clashing badly with his orange hair. He then looked around and noticed that the living room got a lot more crowded.

In truth, Ichigo had planned to kiss Orihime some time tonight when he had her all to himself. He had wanted to catch her under the mistletoe and kiss her, but not with his friends, family, and half the Gotei watching. This evening was not how he had planned at all.

"Ichigo-kun, it's alright. We don't have to…" Orihime said quietly, her voice sounding as nervous as he felt.

He was about to say something to ease her nervousness when Tatsuki spoke again.

"Now Orihime, remember what I told you. You have to grab Ichigo by the neck, bend him back then kiss him."

To demonstrate, Tatsuki grabbed an unsuspecting Ishida by the neck, bent him back and kissed him soundly before dropping him to the floor. She then turned to Orihime and said, "Now you do it."

Orihime just stared at her best friend with her mouth open. Ichigo cleared his throat. This evening was turning from bad to worse. The crowd was shouting encouragements all around. Even his sisters were into it. Karin was shouting at him for taking too long to kiss Orihime and Yuzu was just happily taking pictures.

He looked at Orihime, she nodded her head. They were on the same page. They might as well give the crowd what they wanted or else they'll never get out of there. They looked into each other's eyes, leaned close to each other and then…

"Too slow, let me show you how it's done, son!" Isshin said as he pushed Ichigo out of the way. He was about to plant a kiss on a stunned Orihime when he was kicked in the shins by Karin.

"What are you doing, you old perv!" Karin shouted.

Chaos ensued. Now was their chance to escape. Ichigo grabbed Orihime's hand and ran out of the living room. They didn't dare look back nor heed the voices telling them to stop. They ran up the stairs, nearly tripping over Yachiru who was now eyeing the decorated garland adorning the banister. Still they ran until both of them were locked safely inside Ichigo's room.


	3. Chapter 3

As soon as the door closed behind them, Ichigo and Orihime both breathe a sigh of relief. That was close. Last thing they needed was to have everyone offering them thanks for being tonight's entertainment. Everyone's advice on how to kiss was still ringing in their ears. Matsumoto even offered to show them a demonstration of what a girl wants in a kiss. He stopped listening at the mention of breasts. Orihime was beet red by then.

Still holding Orihime's hand, Ichigo led her to his bed so they can sit and relax. Orihime was a little reluctant to sit down, but acquiesced after a gentle squeeze from his hand. Ichigo wondered why she was still nervous. It was just the two of them now. No one was watching them anymore. He then noticed her stare at the spot between the window and his bed. He was about to ask her what was wrong, but then realized why she was tense. She was recalling her first visit to his room. It was the night she confessed her love for him as he lay sleeping. It was the night she said goodbye before she left for Hueco Mundo. It was the night she said goodbye thinking it was forever.

He didn't say word. Instead he gently squeezed her hand again to get her attention. She looked at him with somber eyes.

"I'm here." He whispered quietly, repeating the same two little words she had spoken earlier to comfort him.

Her eyes widened with understanding and then she nodded. Slowly, his face descended until his lips were almost touching hers. He hesitated for a moment, wanting to make sure that this was what she wanted. She closed her eyes. That's all the confirmation he needed. He was about to seal their first kiss when he heard familiar voices coming from his closet.

"Are you sure I'm going to fit?"

"Of-course you'll fit. Just angle your legs up a bit more."

Both Ichigo and Orihime just stared at the closet. Ichigo cursed under his breath, stood up and headed determinedly towards the closet.

"You'd better be right. This is going to hurt, you know."

"Well, it's not my fault you're so big?"

Ichigo felt a vein pop in his head before he shouted, "RENJI! RUKIA! YOU BOTH BETTER BE DRESSED, OR ELSE I'LL THROW YOU BOTH OUT OF MY ROOM NAKED!"

Renji opened the closet door and shouted back, "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT?"

Ichigo stopped talking. He wasn't sure if he could. He felt his face grow warm instead. There in front of him was Rukia sitting astride Renji. Both of them were fully clothed. But that didn't stop him from thinking the worst.

"What are you guys doing? There better not be any stains in my closet! I'm not cleaning up any mess you guys leave!" Ichigo said, with his arms akimbo.

Ever protective, Ichigo made sure to block Orihime's view to prevent her from seeing Renji and Rukia in such compromising position. Ichigo then glared at the two shinigami, neither of whom made a move to get out of his closet. Exasperated, Ichigo decided that desperate measures were required. He relied on the power of one name.

"Byakuya! I'm glad that you can come to our Christmas party!" Ichigo said with feigned enthusiasm.

"Byakuya? Where? It's not what you think, Captain!" Renji said in a panicked voice as he scrambled to get out of the closet. He ended up falling, inadvertently taking Rukia with him. They both ended up on the floor, this time with Renji on top of Rukia.

Ichigo rolled his eyes. Just when he thought it was safe to allow Orihime to look, this happens.

"It's okay Ichigo-kun. I think Kuchiki-san was just trying to see if Renji-kun fits in your closet." Orihime said, peeking from behind Ichigo.

"Finally, we hear a voice of reason! Thank you, Inoue. By the way, Ichigo, I thought you said Nii-sama was here." Rukia said, looking around.

"WHAT?" Renji yelled as he too looked around. Seeing no sign of Rukia's over-protective brother, Renji sighed in relief.

"I was wondering why I didn't feel his reiatsu…" Rukia said while trying and failing to push Renji off her. She sighed loudly.

"Will you stop fidgeting?" Renji asked, still not getting the hint.

"I'm trying to get you off me because you're too heavy and the floor is hard. If we were on Ichigo's bed, it would be more comfortable." Rukia protested.

Ichigo's mouth dropped open. He could not believe Rukia just asked Renji to take her to bed, HIS bed. Ichigo realized that Renji was also staring open-mouthed at Rukia, probably not believing his luck. Still Renji didn't budge.

"That didn't work." Rukia said under her breath.

"Are you in need of assistance, Rukia?"

"Nii-sama!" Rukia said, blushing furiously.

Renji was off Rukia before she even finished speaking.

Byakuya definitely knew how to make an entrance, Ichigo thought, shaking his head in disbelief. He watched the captain of the 6th division help his sister up from the floor then asked her if she was alright. Rukia nodded, still blushing. Byakuya turned his attention to Renji who was standing some distance away from the adopted siblings.

Ichigo wondered how none of them felt Byakuya's reiatsu. It was either they were too distracted by Rukia's proposition to Renji, or Byakuya was hiding his reiatsu. Ichigo decided it was a combination of both. He was just glad he wasn't at the receiving end of the deathly glare from Byakuya.

"Well, I guess Orihime and I will leave you three to sort this out." Ichigo said cheerily as he grabbed Orihime's hand and led her out of his room.

"Ichigo-kun, should we stay nearby? Renji-kun might need some healing." Orihime said worriedly.

"He'll live. Rukia won't let Byakuya hurt him too much." Ichigo said with a smirk. It felt good to know that someone else was finally having a bad night.

As Ichigo and Orihime descended the stairs, they both noticed that the lighted garland that was once covered in stringed pop-corn and marshmallow snowmen was now bare. They both grinned when they saw the pink haired culprit sleeping soundly on the last step of the staircase. They tiptoed past her and then made a run for the front door. They were giggling by the time they stepped outside, not paying attention to where they were going. They promptly bumped into the formidable captain of the 11th division.

"Kenpachi, uh, we didn't see you there." Ichigo said, slightly embarrassed.

"You're losing your touch Ichigo, can't have that happening. We still have a battle to finish. Killing you will be too easy if you're too distracted." Kenpachi said gravely.

Ichigo didn't say anything. He couldn't anything. Kenpachi's reiatsu was slowly rising, that can only mean one thing. He wants to fight Ichigo and he's not taking no for an answer. Ichigo's shoulders slumped in resignation.

"Kenpachi-san, if you are looking for Yachiru-chan, you can find her sleeping at the bottom of the staircase." Orihime said quickly, knowing all too well where this was leading.

Kenpachi stared at Orihime briefly before nodding with understanding. Before he left, he gave Ichigo a look that said he'll be waiting for him. Tonight, he was given a reprieve. Their battle can be fought another time.

Ichigo let go of the breath he didn't realize he was holding. His shoulders relaxed. He faced Orihime and said softly, "Thanks for saving my life."

"No. It's you I have to thank, Ichigo-kun."

"What are you talking about? This night hasn't gone as planned. The Christmas celebration was only supposed to be with family, but we have our friends and nearly half of the Gotei attending instead." Ichigo said with frustration.

"Well, they all are sort of an extended family, even if they are a little strange." Orihime said in a wistful tone. "It's always been just Sora and I together. When he died, I didn't have anyone to celebrate with until Tatsuki-chan came along." She paused then looked into Ichigo's eyes and said, "But now, because of you, I finally have a big and wonderful family I can celebrate Christmas with."

"Orihime." Ichigo said quietly, all complaints forgotten.

"This is our first Christmas together, Ichigo. Thank you for making it perfect."

Overwhelmed, Ichigo did the first and only thing that came to mind. He captured Orihime's lips in a sweet, tender kiss. It was new, it was a little awkward, but it was just as he always imagined it would be. Just like their first Christmas night together, it was perfect.


End file.
